Transparency guaranteed in Kano LG polls, electoral commission assures

The Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) says it will conduct the upcoming local government elections without interference from any quarters.

KANSIEC chair Sani Malumfashi said this while presenting the election timetable and guidelines to leaders of the 19 political parties on Thursday in Kano.

He said KANSIEC was determined to conduct free and fair local government elections.

KANSIEC had scheduled November 30 for the chairmanship and councillorship elections into the 44 local governments.

“The commission will operate independently in conducting the forthcoming local government elections in the state. Nobody is going to interfere with our activities.

“Similarly, nobody should approach us with bribe. If people approach us with bribe we are going to expose them. We did it before. We will do it again,” Mr Malumfashi warned.

On the nomination form fees for candidates for the election which is N10 million for chairmanship and N5 million for councillorship, Malumfashi told the News Agency of Nigeria that the fees were realistic amounts arrived at by the commission.

He explained that while the commission was not a revenue collection agency it was also not a charity organisation. He said if states such as Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa and Kebbi would fix their nomination forms fees in that range, he saw no reason why the commission should not fix similar amounts.

Mr Malumfashi urged candidates to conduct their campaigns without foul language, personal attacks on opponents or violence. He told them to focus on issues such as unemployment, poverty, and the insecurity currently faced by society.

He also urged all stakeholders, such as politicians, traditional and religious leaders, community leaders, CSOs, security agencies and the media, to cooperate with the commission to make the election credible.